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The UK is about to receive it’s first Intel-based Android smartphone courtesy of Orange. Previously known as the Santa Clara, the Orange San Diego is an Android 2.3 smartphone running a 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z2460 coupled with Intel’s XMM 6260 for HSPA+ connectivity. It sports a 4.03-inch display at 1024×600 resolution, 1GB RAM, and 16GB of internal storage. An 8MP camera is capable of 1080p video capture and features a “Burst” mode capable of snapping off 10 shots in under a second.
The San Diego will launch June 6th with both pay-as-you-go and monthly pricing options. An Ice Cream Sandwich update is anticipated for September.
Orange to Exclusively Launch The ‘San Diego’ – powered by Intel® Technology
London, UK – 31 May 2012: Orange today unveiled the San Diego, a new high-performance Android smartphone powered by Intel Inside®, which will be available exclusively on Orange from 6th June nationwide.
The San Diego (previously codenamed ‘Orange Santa Clara’) is the first Intel powered smartphone to launch in Europe and will deliver users the latest in innovative smartphone capabilities at an affordable price point.
The handset is powered by the Intel® Atom™ processor Z2460 and supports HSPA+ with the Intel® XMM™ 6260 Platform. Together, these Intel solutions deliver users a fast and responsive browsing experience.
The San Diego features High-definition (HD) video, helping it to support a rich entertainment offering along with 1080p video capture, image stabilization and HDMI out. What’s more, the handset boasts an 8 mega-pixel camera which features ‘Burst’ mode allowing it to take 10 pictures in under a second to ensure you capture all the action and can choose the very best pictures to keep and share. The San Diego also comes with mobile HD voice for outstanding audio quality, and features a 4.03″ capacitive display, A-GPS and Bluetooth 2.1.
From the home screen, the San Diego will come with quick link access to:
- Orange Wednesdays: 2-4-1 cinema ticket app – allowing you to read reviews, watch trailers as well as redeem 2-4-1 vouchers all from your handset
- Your Orange: To help customers keep up to date and manage their Orange account
- Orange Gestures: Allowing users to draw natural and intuitive gestures on their home screen which can give one-stroke access to their favourite applications or services
The San Diego will be available for £199.99 on Orange Pay As You Go, when customers top up by £10 in Orange shops. When they take out the handset on pay as you go, they will also receive a free monthly allowance of 250Mb* of mobile data per month for 12 months.
Alternatively, for launch, the handset will be free to customers who take a 24 month price plan from £15.50 a month until the 25th of July** 2012. The package includes 50 any network call minutes, 50 texts, as well as 100MB of mobile data a month.
Paul Jevons, Director of Products and Devices, Orange UK commented: “We’re proud to be working with such an exciting partner as Intel, and offering our customers the first Orange Intel powered smartphone on the market.
“The San Diego is a great addition to our own-branded device portfolio, and is testament to our heritage in offering consumers great value innovation.”
“We congratulate Orange on the launch of their ‘San Diego’ smartphone with Intel inside,” said Mike Bell, Intel Vice President and General Manager of the company’s Mobile and Communications Group. “Orange is truly a progressive operator who has its finger on the pulse on its customer base. The new Intel-based smartphone exemplifies Orange’s focus on delivering a well executed product to its users, from the quality and feel of industrial design to the overall software and applications experience.”
San Diego customers will also benefit from access to T-Mobile’s signal too, meaning they can call, text and access high speed mobile internet in more places across the UK, as well as benefit from Quick Tap Treats – the UK’s first mobile contactless retail reward scheme, and discount on Orange home broadband.
The handset will be supported by a multimillion pound advertising campaign, featuring the Orange ninja creative which will commence in June. The advertising campaign will feature across TV, outdoor, print and online.
The San Diego will be available from 6th June from Orange shops, Orange telesales and the Orange online shop. For more information, visit www.orange.co.uk/intel
Who manufactures the handset? The statusbar looks like HTC, but not the dock…and the hardware design doesn’t look very HTC-ish either. Nor does it look like Samsung hardware, or Motorola. LG or Huawei maybe?
I believe Intel manufactures the headset themselves.
It looks very similar to their first attempt the Xolo X900
[edited] I stand corrected. After a little digging, I found out that Intel partnered up with Gigabyte to make the device for Orange.
Huge bezel and Gingerbread button. I’d love to try an Intel phone, but this phone is not it.
I would try it if it were at least dual core but as I’m sure it also sport intel graphics, single core and ugly just wont get me to leap. Try again please.
That is one UGLY phone.
I have had this phone for nearly 3 weeks now and I can not fault it one
little bit. This is an amazing for for such a small price!
The only thing I can think of is that maybe they should of given the
phone an excellent 5mp camera instead of an average 8mp one. The
pictures it takes are fine, not as good as the W995 I have just replaced
but they are still good enough. The HD video recording could be better though.
In regards to it only having one core, it does not need anymore than
that. There is no other phone in the market that loads web pages as
quick or smoothly. The UI runs really smoothly too with no stuttering or
lag.
I think the main problems with this are that there is no expandable
memory, yes if you manage to get the back of the phone off there is a
micro SD card slot but it is not a functioning one. Also as this is the
first Intel phone in Europe most game have been made to run with ARM not
Intel so quite a few of the top games are not compatible at the moment
but this will change in the very near future.
All round this is a fantastic phone and well worth the money, also the
battery will last a full 24 hours easily under normal use. Obviously as
with all phone these days, hammer games and youtube all day and you will
need to charge it before the end of the day.
One other thing,… The picture you have above does the phone no justice
at all. It looks much better in the flesh. It has a nice glossy finish
on the front, not dull and boring like the picture above and the back is
some type of rubbery plastic, which I like as it stops the phone from
slipping.
Hi all, This handset is great & can be upgraded to 4.0.3 ICS. Its sturdy and when put alongside Htc One s & even Gs11 it looks great. Graphics are good , it has a 4.3 inch screen UMA tech(signal boost) has decent battery life. good phone for a good price.